Mack Wommack and his son Timothy Wommack own and operate Wommack's Great-American Food Store on North Grant Avenue. / Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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I f you ask Timothy Wommack, the key to being in the grocery business is “evolving.”

“We went from a traditional grocery store to a dollar store concept. Now we’re mostly into diversity on food items,” he said, surrounded by products catering to an international clientele.

Evolving is something his father has been doing for more than half a century. This year marks 60 since 79-year-old Mack Wommack entered the grocery business; today, the two own and operate Wommack’s Great-American Food Store on North Grant Avenue.

While Mack said he’s doing less and less, he’s still putting in about 65 hours a week.

“I’ll probably go until I can’t get up and go any longer,” he said in an interview at the store last week.

In an era in which regional or national chains dominate the industry, independent grocers like the Wommacks stand out. In Missouri, independent grocers employ about 25,700 people and generate $299 million in state and local taxes, according to the National Grocers Association.

Mack’s career began in Springfield in 1954 with Consumer Foods, he said, when he walked into a store and asked the owner for a job.

The owner told him to put on a shirt and tie and said he’d introduce Mack to the manager. He started out carrying groceries for customers.

“I figured, I’m in groceries, I’ll always have something to eat,” he said.

In the late 1960s, Mack said, he moved to a position with Ralph Brown Markets, which were sold in 1972. He then went to work for Dave Porter, who owned three Solo Markets in the area. Porter sold him a business on North Chestnut Expressway in 1985.

“Dave got me started and backed me up,” he said.

In the 1990s, Mack said, Wommack’s business moved to its current location at 1130 North Grant Avenue and took on its current name.

Part of the need to evolve over the years has been due to the change in consumer demands, Wommack.

The biggest draw in Wommack’s early years were sales on whole fryer chickens.

“I don’t know of any one thing today that has the power those did,” he said. “There’s so much more foods that are ready to microwave and serve.”

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Asked to name one of the store’s most popular products today, Timothy Wommack singled out Takis, a snack food that can be described as flavored corn tortilla chip roll-ups.

While Wommack’s tried the dollar store concept for a time, Timothy Wommack said, it didn’t work out in the long run.

“You can’t get cheaper than everybody and stay in business,” he said.

The grocery business has notoriously low margins, which Timothy Wommack estimated at 1 to 2 percent.

While he used to count on a four-year cycle — one good year, one bad year and two so-so years — the pattern stopped with the recession, and the store still hasn’t fully recovered.

Larger chains typically make up for the low margins with volume, but smaller independent stores can’t do that, Timothy Wommack said. Instead, they have to do something that sets them apart.

For Wommack’s, that means having staff that can speak as many as four languages, from Spanish to Romanian.

“We will take people through the store with their lists, and no matter what they speak, we’ll be able to get what they need,” Timothy Wommack said.

In one case, he said, a customer requested Turkish delight, a confection that isn’t widely available in the United States. Wommack’s tracked down a source and got it to him a month later.

“I know the immigrant population is small, but we’re small, so it works great,” he said.

Timothy Wommack said he sees the biggest threat to the business as possible unforeseen government regulations.

“If we can stay on level footing and compete, we’ll be here a long time.”